Search

Custom Search

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Learn To Play The Drums (Starter Guide)

Are you intimidated with the thought of learning to play the drums? Does it seem impossible to play complex beats that require all your limbs to be doing different things at seemingly random times? Well, the good news is - it really IS NOT that difficult to learn the drums!
It's true! Anyone can learn to play the drums, and this website is here to help! You see, all the complex drum beats and fills you see your favorite drummer perform are really just variations of simple patterns. So, with progressive learning steps, you too can be flying around the drum set in no time!


First Things First
To get started, read through the beginner drum lessons on reading sheet music and understanding time. They will give you the basic foundational knowledge needed to progress through all the drum lesson material on this website.
You will then want to move on to the how to play drums lesson to learn your very first drum beat. This groove may seem plain at first, but as you progress through the many variations in follow-up lessons, you will see why it is so very important.
Just don't try to get ahead of yourself. That can hurt your drumming a great deal, and ultimately slow your success. Far too many beginners try to push through beats that they aren't ready to play - only to face frustration that is ultimately un-necessary.


What To Do Next
Once you have learned to play the beginner drum beats - you can check out some of the intermediate and advanced content listed on the Drum Lessons homepage.


Other Resources
Have you already checked out all the drum lessons available on this website? You can get additional information on the Learn To Play Drums website. It has interesting articles, and information that can help you learn to play drums more efficiently.

Drum Lessons for Complete Beginners

Are you looking for simple online drum lessons to learn to play the drums? You've come to the right place. Here on Drum Lessons .net, you will find beginner to advanced content that will guide you every step of the way.

Beginner Drum Lessons
This page focuses on the drum lesson content that applies to beginner drummers. First, you will want to get started by checking out the how to read sheet music and counting time pages. They will give you an overview of essential lesson basics.
Once you have completed those lessons, you can move on to the first drum beat lesson. It will teach you the first beat every drummer should learn, and two simple variations that will take the pattern to the next level.

Additional Lessons
If those beats are too easy for you - you can always check out the drum lessons homepage to try intermediate and advanced content. That additional material is sure to challenge even an experienced drummer.
It's very important to always be motivated with what you are practicing. Once you have mastered everything available on this website - we recommend you visit your local music store and grab some books and videos with more complex material.
Once you slow down, and stop taking drum lessons - it is very hard to remotivate yourself to continue practicing and learning. Don't let this happen to you.

Future Lesson Content
Don't forget to check back from time to time. It's a good idea to bookmark drumlessons.net to be sure you visit again. We'll have new lessons in all categories (yes - beginner, intermediate, and advanced) - so no matter what your skill level is, there will be more for you. Also, stop by the drum forums on FDL if you have questions to ask.
Interested in learning to play piano? Visit the piano lessons website to get started.

Drum Lesson for Beginners
Watch this drum lesson for beginners if you are just getting started for the very first time. It will show you the basics of how to play drums in just seven and a half minutes.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Essentials Every Drummer Must Learn!

Learning the drums for the first time can be a very difficult thing to do. There is so much to this massive instrument that somene could get lost very easy. Perhaps you already know how to play the drums but are finding it hard to progress with your skills. Whatever the situation is, learning the essentials of this massive instrument is a must. There are a few lessons that need to be learnt in order to be able to play and practice the drums effectively. Before starting any other lessons on the drums, make sure you go through these essentials and master them. If you are an advanced drummer already, you definitely want to go through them again to make sure you haven’t missed anything. There are a lot of drummers that do not know a few of these skills, which throws their whole groove off! Like I said; these skills are ESSENTIAL for every drummer!


The first essential skill a drummer must know before anything else is how to hold a drumstick. This is something that most drummers do not take the time to actually learn; they will just grip the sticks any way they feel comfortable. This is not the right thing to do at all! There are specific ways to hold the drum sticks for a reason, so make sure you go over all the different variations. Whether you play traditional grip, matched grip, or French grip, there is a distinct way to hold the sticks in order to get the maximum bounce and response from your stick. If you learn this right early in your drumming life, you will be that much better off, as your practice sessions will become more effective. Check out these few articles on this concept so you can master this skill:
+Drum Stick Grips
+How to Hold Your Drum Sticks
+How to Select Your Drum Sticks


The next thing every drummer should know is how to count time. This is not as easy as counting to 4, there is a little more to it. Being able to count time means being able to count different time signatures, notes, and beats. If you cannot count the beat or groove you are playing, then how do you expect to play it properly? That is why you must develop your internal clock skills right away as a drummer. Most drummers think they can do this no problem, but when asked to play a 16th note pattern in 7/4, they stare at me with a blank look. So work on counting time so you can master you beats on the drum set. Here are a few lessons and articles on this concept:
+How to Count Time
+Learn to Count Odd Time Signatures


One essential skill most drummers do not know is how to tune a drum set. You would be surprised how many students I get asking me how to tune a drum kit. The method isn’t really that hard, yet so many drummers never take the time to learn it. If you can tune your drum set correctly, your whole drumming experience will sound that much better. You will also get a further understanding for the instrument you are trying to master. Knowing your instrument is the first step in learning it. So to help you out, here are a few lessons on learning how to tune a drum set:
+Learn How to Tune a Drum Set
+How to Tune Drums
+How to Get the Best Sound From Your Bass Drum


Believe it or not, another essential skill drummers must learn is how to read sheet music. So many drummers do not take the time to even consider learning this. Understanding a little bit of drumming theory is the best thing any drummer can do for themselves; after all, drums are still music. Knowing how to read drum notation will get you a ton more gigs and jobs as a drummer. Musicians will appreciate you more too. But aside from all of this, you will be able to learn more quickly. When you are starting out on the drums, this is key, fast development. When you can read sheet music you can take advantage of all the free drum lessons and beats online. You will be able to learn more diverse beats. So before you decide to just improvise and ignore drum notation, check out these easy to follow lessons to give you a further understanding of sheet music and drum theory:
+Learning How to Read Sheet Music on the Drums
+How to Read Drum Notation
+How to Read Drum Notation – Rests


These 4 skills are a must for any drummer, beginner or not. If you learn these concepts correctly before you start practicing, your practice sessions will be much more effective. If you are a drummer who has been playing for years now, go back and see if you can cross each one of these off. If you can’t, then you better get practicing. I guarantee you will see an improvement in your drumming if you follow these steps!

How To Learn Drum Beats


As drummers, we strive day to day to find new and unique drum beats to challenge ourselves and carry us to a new level of drumming. With the variety of new music coming out these days, there is no stop to the amount of new drum beats that we can learn. But how do we go about learning these unique drum beats? And what about some very common drum beats, like rock drum beats, jazz drum beats or Latin drum beats? As drummers, we need to not only know how to play these, but also how to teach ourselves new drum patterns to keep our list of beats growing. Here are a few ways to learn new drum beats.
Be Sure You Can Read Drum NotationThis is a must for any drummer who is looking at developing new drum beats. When you are searching for new grooves, you will definitely need to be able to read sheet music and drum notation. This is similar to learning how to read drum tabs. If you can fully understand how to read drum notation, you will be able to learn so much more at a faster rate. There are hundreds if not thousands of drumming web pages online scattered with beginner drum beats all the way to advanced drum beats. All you need to know is how to read the sheet music. For more information on this, read over this lesson on understanding drum notation!

Invest in Drumming Instructional VideosNow I know there may be a few drummers who do not like instructional videos and drumming books; however there couldn’t be a more easy way to learn new drum beats. There are books and videos out there for any style of drumming. If you are interested in rock drumming, Latin drumming, jazz drumming, or double bass drumming, there is a product for you. These are great techniques for training yourself because it not only teaches you how to read drum notation, but it provides you with the most common drumming beats of that style all the way to the most unique and advanced drum beats of that style. These products are a lot cheaper then personal lessons, and can teach you much more in the long run. Check out these products if you are interested in different styles:
Rock Drumming System
Jazz Drumming System
Latin Drumming System
Bass Drumming Secrets

Surround Yourself with MusicThe last trick in learning new and unique drum beats is to surround yourself in all different varieties of music. When you listen to different types of music, you are challenged to start playing like them. This is very important! If you are a drummer who is looking for new beats, you will not find it from your favorite rock band. Instead, look for different bands in different styles; you will be surprised what you will learn. When you hear a new groove, you not only will be inspired to play it, but you will have the resource to learn and imitate this groove. So make sure you are experimenting with different music types and genres.
Good luck with these ideas and concepts! Feel free to look around on this website to find a bunch of different drum beats to check out!






By: Dave Atkinson

Friday, July 17, 2009

Tama Drums - Innovation in Drumsets from Japan

Tama was the first to introduce boom cymbal stands and multi-clamps.

Tama drums are made by the Hoshino Gakki Group. The Hoshino family owned a bookstore in Nagoya, Japan, and in 1908 started selling musical instruments out of the same store, including US made Slingerland and Ludwig drumsets and percussion.

In the mid 50s Hoshino started manufacturing drums under the Hoshi (star) brand name, and in 1962 established the Tama Seisakusho Inc. for guitar amplifiers and electric guitars. The Tama name was not used on drum equipment until 1974.

Tama manufacture first focused on drum hardware, whose demand was increasing due to the rise of rock music, which required sturdy equipment for loud playing. Tama led the industry with rugged double braced 36 inch tripods, and introduced the first boom cymbal stand in production. Tama also made the first multi-clamp hardware, letting drummers easily extend their drumsets.

In the late 70s Tama was further solidified as a brand name by the introduction of the Octobans. The Octobans are sets of six inch diameter tubes with tunable drum-heads that can produce an octave range pich. Octobans were extensively used by Stewart Copeland, drummer of the Police, within his Tama Imperial Star drumset during the late 70s and early 80s.

Vintage Drums

The development of the drum set is largely rooted in American tradition and music, and therefore most of what are considered vintage and classic drum sets were made by American companies. Some of the famous early drum set makers include Slingerland, Leedy, Ludwig, Rogers, and Gretsch. Naturally, the vintage drums we recognize today carry the names of those pioneers.


The Slingerland company was started by Henry H. Slingerland in Chicago in 1916. As a fast emerging company, Slingerland took up drummer Gene Krupa's request for a cutting edge drum set with tunable resonant heads on the tom toms' bottoms. The result was the Radio King drum set. Gene Krupa went on to become a big star with the Benny Goodman orchestra in the 1930s, and consequently, Slingerland drums and the Radio King became very popular. The Radio King is one of the most famous and sought after vintage drum kits, and the Radio King snare drum is still considered by some to be the best snare drum ever made.


The Leedy company was founded by Ulysses Grant Leedy, an Indianapolis drummer, at around 1895. L.G. Leedy is considered a very important figure in the development of the early drum set, and is credited with inventing the adjustable snare drum stand. The Leedy company was bought by the Conn corporation in the early 1930s, and later sold to Slingerland in the 1950s. Under Slingerland, the Leedy drum set line was pushed into the sidelines, and continued only until the 1960s.


Ludwig is another name likely to be seen on vintage drums. The Ludwig company was started in the Chicago area in 1909, and is also one of the biggest names in drums today. The Ludwig brothers started out as agents for Leedy equipment. Like Leedy, the Ludwig company was also eventually sold to the Conn corporation. But the Ludwigs were able to regain rights to their brand and flourish once more.


The Rogers company was started in 1849 by an Irish immigrant from Dublin named Joseph Rogers. Rogers came to the United States and started crafting drum-heads. Rogers began making drums in the mid 1930s from a Farmingdale, New Jersey location and became a leading manufacturer. The company was very hard hit by competition from the Japanese, and by the early 1980s its operations have nearly vanished.


Like Ludwig, Gretsch is another company whose drum sets are popular in modern day, and therefore both vintage drums and many mainstream modern drum sets bare the Gretsch name. Gretsch was started by Friedrich Gretsch who, in 1872, immigrated to the United States from Germany. Friedrich Gretsch started a musical instrument company in Brooklyn, New York, in 1883, but died only a few years later. His teenage son then took over the company in the 1890s. Gretsch sold out to the Baldwin musical instrument company in 1967, but Baldwin went bankrupt in 1983, and Gretsch operations came back under family ownership in 1985.

Yamaha Drums - Drum Equipment from the World's Largest Musical Instrument Manufacturer

Yamaha drums include YESS hardware for minimizing mount to shell contact and maximizing drum resonance.

Yamaha drums, are made by the famous Japanese Yamaha Corporation. Aside from drum equipment and other musical instruments, Yamaha also manufactures a wide variety of products, including motorcycles, computer hardware, and home entertainment electronics. The founder of the Yamaha Corporation began as an organ maker in 1887, and in 1889 he formed the Yamaha Organ Manufacturing Co. in Hamamatsu.

Yamaha first manufactured drums in 1968. Early Yamaha drum equipment borrowed concepts from from Ludwig drum set models. But Yamaha soon acquired a place among the top drum manufacturers and led the industry with innovative shell construction and finish techniques.
Yamaha introduced its 9000 Recording Custom set series in 1975. The 9000 Recording Custom Yamaha drums, became an industry standard among fusion and studio musicians. The RC 9000 drums featured lightweight, well designed hardware, and Yamaha's original Air-Seal System for drum shell construction.

In 1993 Yamaha came out with the Yamaha Enhanced Sustain System, known as YESS, for mounting drums. YESS hardware minimizes shell to mount contact, allowing maximum drum resonance. Additionally, the mounting hardware is attached to the shell at its nodal points where the shell's vibrations are of the lowest amplitude. In 1995 the RC 9000 Yamaha drums were reintroduced, enhanced with the YESS.

In addition to making acoustic drum kits and hardware, Yamaha is also a major manufacturer of best selling electronic drums. Popular Yamaha electronic drums, in order of increasing cost, are the Yamaha DTXpress, Yamaha DTXpress Special, and Yamaha DTXreme.